


A Fox's Amusement

by LemonGas



Category: Naruto
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-05
Updated: 2021-01-05
Packaged: 2021-03-16 07:34:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,766
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28578318
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LemonGas/pseuds/LemonGas
Summary: In a world where the bijuu are far more powerful than they were originally, the attack of the Kyuubi leaves Konoha a bit less stable. It derails into Mizuki betraying Konoha earlier, leading to Naruto graduating on his first try. Now Naruto is thrust into a world of killing where he will have to be as creative as possible to outweigh how unprepared he is.
Kudos: 3





	A Fox's Amusement

**Author's Note:**

> First time ever posting to Ao3. Update schedule is nonexistent. I will probably do a rewrite when this story reaches 100k words, so in the meantime be sure to comment in mistakes you find in my writing.

_ The village burned, with the scent of smoke in the air. Left half destroyed with a single swing of one of its nine tails. Minato was still in shock by how fast it happened. As he scribbled fast to finish his fuinjutsu formula, one that he hoped with all his might worked and didn't just explode on his face, he dared to take a glance at the beast that had caused such destruction in just a moment. The one that had left the village of Konoha in such a state, was now staring at him calmly as he worked on his formula. With its eyes that held no pupils, no window to its thoughts. _

_ Minato was afraid. More than when he had faced his first bandit or led his first group as a fresh chunin. He, who was the one rumored to be the strongest person alive right now, the prodigal Fourth Hokage of the Village of Konoha that had obliterated a thousand shinobi in an instant. This man so impressive was now at the mercy of this fox the size of mountains. This creature that could so easily kill him if it wanted to, was the Kyuubi. The ninth of the bijuu. _

_ The bijuu. Nine beasts made out of chakra scattered around the globe, that held an unimaginable power that could easily destroy humankind. Compared to them, humans were little more than maggots, that struggled and squirmed around. But they were still there, still alive to struggle around this world, as these beasts let them keep singing life. And to this day, they still ignored the fact about their true nature, kept in the dark about their intentions, the reason for their ever-changing morality. _

_ Minato shook his head, those thoughts didn't matter right now, not when he was facing one of these creatures. And among the bijuu, the Kyuubi was the most powerful, the most curious, and the most terrifying to the people. _

_ And in that moment, he was trying to seal it onto a newborn baby, effectively destining the young one to a life of many hardships. Because sealing a bijuu granted the one that confined them the ability to use it's chakra to a certain extent, with this effect leading to their hosts being used as weapons for war, or to act as political pawns for their villages. These people succumbed to insanity before long, by the bijuu's influence or the constant war. No one knew what broke them first. The burden was so huge to the person's wellbeing, that they were called jinchuriki, "the power of human sacrifice." _

_ Minato had never seen a bijuu so close, but he now understood all those stories about people dying by being close to them. He could feel as his bones were trembling, his muscles kept tensing painfully, and his heart beating so fast he thought he would have a stroke. And he was left in such a state with it just staring. One stare void of emotion, but that somehow, carried an intensity, a presence too strong to be feasible. After taking a moment to regain his composure and stop his chakra from wobbling pitifully, he clapped his hands together and activated the fuinjutsu formula he had just finished inscribing. At that moment the Death God appeared from the depths of the world and started the task of pulling the Kyuubi into the baby. _

_ As the fox kept gradually disappearing, Minato let out a sigh, relieved that everything had worked out as well as it could. Knowing he had only some moments left, he decided to take one last glance at the Kyuubi. It was laughing. Minato felt a little tremble and started thinking if his seal was going to do any good. He decided to instead direct his attention to the baby, the one that would be united with this monstrosity for the rest of his life and would need to have a strong will to survive its presence as it kept getting stronger over the years. Some ended up afraid of the most simple things. _

_ After mumbling some apologies to the little one, his soul went to the stomach of the Death God, where he would be fighting for eternity to pay for the sin he had committed that night. _

-o-

Nine years have passed since That Night. They had lost a big part of their reserve of shinobi and got half of their village destroyed. But they valiantly carried on, with a determination that wasn't present in many villages. After painstakingly doing efforts to recover the village to its former glory, the people of Konoha could finally smile proudly of their home.

One normal afternoon found a young blonde kid with his body slumped tiredly to a tree, his clothes having bits of paint all over them. He let out a laugh after checking that there was no one around him, which was a bit hard since he could always feel it, and started doing a small celebratory dance in success of his newest prank. This kid that made so much trouble was Uzumaki Naruto, the most infamous prankster of Konoha at the age of nine.

He had just done his most impressive prank to history, having managed to prank all of the establishments that were on his revenge list at the same time. And he would manage to avoid punishment too if he arrived home without getting caught. After some thought, he decided to use the civilian route and go by foot. Maybe today he could pass through without attracting the attention from the rest.

'Maybe today…' He thought hopefully.

He was wrong. As always. He stared down at the ground, trying to pay no attention to their mutters, their stares, to their scornful faces. Things had always been like this, being different from the rest. Naruto had learned this since he could understand what was being said, finding resentment in his caretakers at the orphanage, or receiving different treatment than the other kids for some reason. They never bothered to tell him why, and he wouldn't have any idea of the reason if it didn't show itself.

He could still remember it clearly…

-o-

Naruto was in his apartment at night, still trying to figure out how his kitchen worked. After all, he had only been there for a week.

As he waited patiently for his ramen to cook, he noticed that the fire got put down.

'How strange, it should be working now.' He thought as he tried turning it on again.

Suddenly, the handles of the stove started turning around by themselves, with every second going faster. He took a step back and started turning his gaze expecting something, someone.

And then the shadows started shifting, piling onto each other. A wall of shadows now surrounded him. Naruto was scared, guessing he had accidentally pissed a powerful Nara and started pleading forgiveness for his pranks.

Then he heard it, a laugh that resonated inside his head. 'Holy crap, they brought a Yamanaka with them. You have really done it now Naruto.' And he started bracing his head with his arms, fearing they would break his mind.

Then he heard more laughter, more intense than the previous one, and next the flames of the stove turned up again, with a fierce intensity. The flames then shifted into an eye with no pupils.

Before Naruto could think of cursing about the Hyugas, he felt  _ it _ . Something that blocked all his senses, and just let him  _ know _ . He stood there frozen, ready to have a panic attack as that thing enjoyed his distress. And just as the panic was about to completely overwhelm him, a thought struck him.

Why was he so afraid of something that had the same power as the other shinobi. It's not like manipulating shadows or entering minds was something impossible, worthy of an all-powerful being. And if he truly was underestimating its powers, then he should be dead by now.

Taking a few moments to see if his existence had ended, he concluded that whatever that was couldn't kill him, or at least it didn't want to.

As he finished reassuring himself of his safety, he went back to his precious ramen, supernatural entities being screwed.

To Naruto's amusement, he felt a bit more reassured from that day, knowing that the resentment he had gained wasn't his fault, but because of some weird thing that decided to follow him around. He still didn't know what that was. And he wasn't gonna ask people about it or else he would be going straight to the psychiatric ward. And it's not like he was gonna receive an answer this time either.

He shook his head and forced a grin on his face, thinking about this wouldn't change anything. He wouldn't let these people's stupid resentment for having some weird being affect him or impede him from having happiness in his life, so he would continue to endure their stares and illusions and keep on living. Because he was Uzumaki Naruto, and he wouldn't let these doubts overcome him. Believe it!

-o-

It was early in the morning when Naruto arrived more excited than ever to the Academy, a place where you learn and train to become a shinobi, the fine protectors of this village who were respected by the normal folks. This kid that had energy vibrating through his every being and was always making trouble, was now hesitant to open a simple door.

Why would he be so excited and nervous for a door he opened daily? Well, it's because today was the day that Naruto would try his luck at the graduation exam, two years earlier than he should.

After standing awkwardly in front of the door for quite some time, Naruto finally opened it all the way, making it hit against the wall and attracting the glances of the few students that were there. He embarrassedly took his hand to the back of his head.

He then quietly went to an empty seat in the back and slapped himself to still his nerves. 'Calm down Naruto, you practiced all month for this, and you aren't going to make all of this effort go to waste. You are going to wreck this exam and become a genin, no sweat. Because you're Uzumaki Naruto, believe it!'

After his little pep-talk, Naruto was once again in high spirits and ready to take the exam. In that moment a student sat next to him and started staring intently at him for a few moments.

'What's his deal? Why is he staring so intently at me? Do I have something on my face?' Naruto thought as he started passing his hands through his face.

Satisfied with his little inspection, he went back to his theorizing. Before he could go and ask the brown-haired what was with all that staring, he was interrupted by the other boy.

"Hey there blondie, what's a little kid like you doing here? Trying to graduate like 4 years earlier than you are supposed to? Or did you sneak in to try to become a ninja?" said the boy, in an unnaturally cheerful voice for what he had just said.

Naruto stood there frozen for a moment, did this guy had just casually insult him?

'Oh this guy is gonna pay!' He thought as he cracked his fists in a threatening matter.

Before Naruto could come back with a response worthy of the Future Hokage himself, he was bombarded with a series of questions.

"Hey, are you one of those prodigies that after a while go insane? Or maybe you're one of those people that look younger than they should. Are you like 60? Are you one of those super veterans that always appear on stories? Hey, will you teach me your..? Are you a super-secret..? Do you have cool..? Did you know..? Where are..? Hey..?

And in that moment, his surroundings started to crumble, like pieces of a puzzle. The words coming out of the boy's mouth started to appear out of thin air and wrap around him, as the brown-haired unraveled into a thin line of muscles and nerves coated into blood. As Naruto grimaced in disgust, he finally realized what was happening. Then the illusion shattered, and he was back at the ordinary classroom. That thing kept coming up with worse stuff every time.

"Start!"

Naruto blinked.

'What?' He thought startled.

As his dizziness finally came to an end, Naruto started to take notice that the once chatting boy was now quietly writing on a piece of paper.

He also noticed that the once half-empty classroom was now filled with students that were quickly writing on paper. Checking his own desk, he noticed that laid there was his test.

'How much time was I in that illusion? That doesn't matter, I gotta answer this test before my time ends!' With that, Naruto glanced at the first question.

'Geography:

1) Mark all the trading routes between the Fire Country and the Thunder Country.'

Naruto blinked. He went to the second question.

'2) Which of the following towns are part of the Fire Country's territory?''

He was screwed. With a slightly trembling hand, he picked up his pencil and slowly and painfully went through this mind-breaking test. This was gonna be the most painful hour of his short existence.

-o-

An hour later Naruto laid completely exhausted on his seat, with a suffering expression on his face. He had managed to pass, but it was closer than he would like to admit. That month of studying really paid off in the end. As they called the students for the next section, Naruto begrudgingly got up from his seat and followed the rest of the class.

They took them to the ring where the taijutsu practice took place.

"Now moving on to the second part of the exam, each of you will spar with a teacher and will have to either last for 5 minutes or manage to win against them by making them surrender, knocking them out, or taking them out of the ring. As this is a taijutsu test, you will not be using ninjutsu or weapons, but you're able to use the field as you want."

As the instructor finished the instructions, he started calling the name of the students for their respective matches.

Naruto started to stretch up a little, knowing he would be one of the last to be called. He spent the next minutes watching as the students fought with the instructors, trying to take tips about their spars.

After a while, it was finally his turn and he went to the field, with two chunins waiting for him. The one supervising the match signaled him to get into position. He got into a rough Academy stance to show he was ready.

"The match.. begins!" Immediately after he pronounced those words Naruto took a handful of sand and threw it at the chunin, making him block with his arms, blocking his vision and leaving him wide open to an attack.

Naruto took his chance and went for a low kick aimed at his legs to force him into the ground. Unfortunately, the chunin managed to jump just in time and delivered a kick mid-air that Naruto just narrowly managed to block, getting pushed back a little.

Naruto yelled as he took on a run to give a head-on tackle. Seeing this, the chunin prepared to block for the imminent attack, but at the last second Naruto went into a roll and landed just behind the chunin, and gave him a kick in his heel that he wasn't able to react in time to.

With his opponent now on the ground and a bit dazzled, he took a strong grip of his arm, and threw him out of the ring, earning Naruto the win.

-o-

'This is it.' Naruto thought excitedly, having only one more test to graduate.

He entered the room, where two Academy teachers would determine his Ninjutsu.

"Hello Uzumaki-san, please demonstrate your ability with the Henge no Jutsu, Kawarimi no Jutsu, and the Bunshin no Jutsu. By transforming into this jar, " One of the examiners said while pointing to a generic jar on the table. "replacing with that log on the corner and finally by making six successful clones." said the chunin with a monotone voice.

"Start whenever you're ready, but remember that you will only have one chance."

After that Naruto carefully molded his chakra to do the jutsu and taking a deep breath he formed his hands on the ram hand sign.

-o-

That afternoon found Naruto sitting silently on the bench of the academy, seeing as the other students boasted to their parents, while proudly wearing their brand new headbands with the symbol of Konoha engraved on them. With his own forehead staying naked, showing the results of the day. He had failed on the last stretch of the exam, failing the last jutsu needed to graduate. Naruto silently seethed in anger

'I was so close, but that damned Bunshin no Jutsu just doesn't work, not even with all the nights I spent training it for this day. Now instead of being one step closer to my dream and proving how great I am, I will go back to being the joke of the class.' Naruto finished on a lamented note.

While he processed these thoughts, he felt as someone came over him. He recognized the figure as Mizuki-sensei and stared at him with a confused expression.

"Why are you here Mizuki-sensei?" Naruto asked having no idea what the academy teacher had to tell him.

"Hey there Naruto, I heard what happened, but I'm sure you will get it next time. It's not like graduating early will automatically make you a better ninja."

Naruto knew he was right, even Iruka-sensei had told him so and that there was no rush to becoming a ninja. But...

"But Mizuki-sensei, I really wanted to graduate and prove to the others that I'm not just a joke, that Uzumaki Naruto is just as competent as the rest of them!"

Mizuki paused after that and seemed to be in deep thought until he finally spoke up again.

"Hmm..... alright Naruto, I'm gonna let you in into a little secret," In that instant, Naruto's eyes lit up with curiosity. "but let's go someplace that isn't so crowded." Mizuki said while jumping on the roof of a nearby building, with Naruto following suit shortly after.

-o-

It was well into the night when Naruto finally stood up with a proud look on his face. 'I did it, I managed to learn one of the jutsus from this scroll. Now I will graduate and be one step closer to being Hokage, believe it!'

He stopped his musings when he heard some ruffling behind him, and saw that Iruka-sensei was standing there with an angry look on his face.

"Naruto, what do you think you are doing!"

At that, Naruto looked at his sensei with a big proud smile on his face.

"Ne ne Iruka-sensei, I did it! I learned one of the jutsus from the scroll, so you gotta let me graduate right?" Naruto said barely containing his excitement.

"Naruto, don't you understand what you have done?! Stealing the Scroll of Seals is a crime punishable by death." Iruka said with a bit of confusion in his voice.

"What? But Mizuki-sensei said..."

At that moment many kunai came whizzing by at an alarming speed at the two of them, but Iruka managed to get Naruto out of the way, getting slightly injured because of it.

"Naruto, give me the scroll right now!" Mizuki said, having arrived just a moment ago.

"Wait a second, what's going on here?" asked Naruto with clear confusion on his face.

"Naruto, whatever you do, don't give the scroll to Mizuki. That scroll has forbidden jutsus that in bad hands would pose a danger to the village. He used you to steal the Scroll of Seals for his own benefit!" Iruka said frantically.

"Naruto, Iruka is only trying to scare you so you don't end up happy."

"Stop lying Mizuki!"

"Oh, we are talking about lies now huh? Naruto, they have been lying to you your whole life, and it's the reason for why they have hated you. Would you like to know Naruto?" Mizuki asked with sadistic glee.

"Don't tell him Mizuki, you know is punishable by death." Iruka said in an attempt to stop him.

Naruto just nodded to Mizuki's question, curious to know the entity of that thing. "Very well then, ten years ago when the Kyuubi attacked the village, the Fourth Hokage wasn't able to kill it, so he had to seal it into a newborn baby. That's right, the fox that destroyed the village and killed Iruka's parents is inside you Naruto. You are the Kyuubi of the Nine-Tails!" He finished with a dramatic pose, a confident smile on his face.

"Naruto he is wrong, you are nothing like a beast, and you definitely aren't the Kyuubi!" Iruka said quickly to stop Naruto from stressing.

Meanwhile, Naruto was deep in thought, as all the pieces started to fit.

'Huh… it does make sense now, so that's why they hate me! Because the Kyuubi destroyed the village and killed tons of people, and it's sealed on me!' He finished satisfied with the explanation, and now that that was over, he only had one more thing to do.

"Hmph, I will just put end to this endless squabble, Die Naruto!"

At that moment Mizuki threw a fūma shuriken to the still unprepared Naruto at incredible speeds that he wouldn't be able to dodge or block in his state.

But before it could reach him, Iruka got between the two of them, taking the attack for Naruto, but collapsing to the strains caused by the attack.

"Wh-why....?" Naruto asked truly surprised at the act of Iruka.

"Because you are like me Naruto, I was also an orphan and the joke of my class. I know how hard it is to live in solitude and ridicule. I should have done more for you Naruto, knowing better than anyone how much it hurts." said Iruka with tears flowing at the end.

Naruto just stood frozen, not knowing how to react to that.

"Naruto, Iruka is only saying that so you give him the scroll, in truth he hates you because you killed his family! Now give me the scroll and I will help you on destroying the village that made your life hell. Prove them right and show them how a true monster acts!"

"You are right Mizuki," At that Naruto started at Iruka with his eyes wide open. "that's how monsters act. But Naruto is nothing like you or a monster because he is a hard-working kid that puts his all into his training, even if he fails again and again because it only makes him stronger!" Iruka finished with a smile and looked at him confident that he was gonna do the right thing.

Making his choice, Naruto decided to ask one question that had been on his mind for a while.

"Mizuki-sensei, before you try to kill us and all that stuff, why are you doing this? Didn't you have a happy life and all that?" He asked truly confused about his former sensei actions.

Mizuki was caught a bit off-guard, but then he decided to humor the kid's request.

"You see Naruto, this village isn't as good as it appears to be. It's not all flowers and roses. They don't care about you, and will easily dispose of you as they seem fit. They will send your loved ones to their death, knowing that they have no chance to make it through." Mizuki cracked up a little, he still missed them.

"So I decided to steal that scroll to give me the power to take all from them, just as they did to me." The silver-haired ended with a little less emotion.

To his surprise, Naruto started to cry.

"I'm truly sorry about what happened to you Mizuki, but that doesn't excuse you from trying to hurt innocent people in the process like Iruka-sensei. I don't care if you try to mess with me, but you aren't going to hurt my precious people." Naruto finished with a more threatening expression on his face.

"You don't scare me demon brat, and you aren't going to stop my revenge" Mizuki said confidently on his abilities as a chunin.

And just as he was about to launch another fūma shuriken at him, he was headbutted from behind.

As he stood up, he realized that it was Naruto that had done it.

"What? How? You haven't moved from your spot." Mizuki asked bewildered.

"Did you forget that I learned a new jutsu? And I had all the time to use it while you were with your monologue. That's right, you just got hit by Uzumaki Naruto's Kage Bunshin no Jutsu.

As Mizuki recovered from his shock, he started getting on an offensive stance.

"Nice try brat, but that's not gonna work on me again." He said confident in his abilities to defeat an Academy student.

"Don't underestimate me! Tajū Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Naruto yelled with his hand on an extravagant hand seal, and then the whole clearing was filled with smoke, leaving behind dozens of Naruto clones.

"Are you sure about your chances now sensei?" Naruto asked in a mocking tone.

At that all Mizuki could do was stare at him with scared eyes, knowing what was gonna happen to him.

-o-

Naruto stared proudly at the sight before him, with an exhausted grin on his face. Mizuki was sprawled on the clearing having been beaten into a bloody pulp by Naruto and his clones. As he stood up, he saw Iruka-sensei giving him a proud look.

"Don't worry Mizuki, when I become Hokage I will make sure that something like you passed through doesn't happen ever again. You have my word." He finished on a serious note, promising to not break his promise.

As he saw the lack of response, he laughed a little at his optimism.

"I think I went a bit overboard, what do you think sensei?" Naruto asked a little embarrassed while scratching the back of his head.

'Impressive, he managed to learn a high ranking jutsu in a matter of hours and used it on a combat situation right after.' Iruka thought with a proud smile and made his decision.

"Come here Naruto and close your eyes for a moment, I want to give you something." Iruka said with a smile while signaling for Naruto to come closer.

Naruto did as he was told and closed his eyes when he was close enough. He felt as Iruka-sensei wrapped something that felt like cloth around his forehead, but it was a little heavier than it should have been.

"You can open your eyes now Naruto."

Naruto opened his eyes and saw Iruka-sensei grinning at him with a now naked forehead. His eyes widened as the realization hit him and took his hand to his forehead, feeling something cold and metallic.

"Is... is this your..? Does ... this mean that....?" Naruto asked, unable to formulate his question better with the rush of thoughts passing through his mind.

"That's right Naruto, congratulations on graduating." Just as he finished saying that Naruto was already upon him and giving him a tight hug.

"Ughh, be more careful, remember that I had something impaled on my back some minutes ago. Now, let's go get some ramen ok? My treat." Iruka said as he held his wallet.

"Alright Iruka-sensei..... thanks." Naruto said barely holding his tears of happiness from flowing freely across his face.

-o-

And like that, student and sensei walked to the village to have a nice meal to celebrate their success. Hiruzen smiled as he stashed away his crystal ball, proud with this young shinobi burning with the Will of Fire so brightly.

"I'm sure you would be so proud of him Minato." said Hiruzen with a sad smile gazing at a photo of his successor the Fourth Hokage. Then he turned to the stack of paperwork that had to be done because of this whole ordeal and called the Anbu to go fetch Naruto and Iruka, even though they deserved a break after all that happened tonight. It was gonna be a long week for him, but he remained in a satisfied mood through all of it.


End file.
